High Court rejects bid to halt work on M3 motorway
The Irish Times - Friday, March 14, 2008
AN APPLICATION by protesters for an injunction to halt work on the M3 Dublin-Navan motorway on grounds of safety and potential damage to a national monument linked to the Hill of Tara has been rejected by the High Court. Ms Justice Mary Laffoy was told yesterday that protesters had dug a tunnel near the monument, at an esker known as Rath Lugh, and that any attempts to remove a female protester who had allegedly chained herself to a jack in the tunnel could result in the tunnel’s collapse and would represent a danger to safety.
The National Roads Authority (NRA) rejected claims that works on the motorway created a danger of damage to Rath Lugh and argued any delay in the project would cost the taxpayer €330,000 a week. Rath Lugh is located about 3.7km (2.3 miles) northeast of the Hill of Tara and is divided from the hill by the existing N3 road. The injunction application was brought by a building surveyor, Peadar Ó Ceallaigh, Wolfe Tone Close, Jervis Street, Dublin.